Frequently Asked Questions




ExitAdviser is an FSBO (For Sale by Owner) platform that is specifically designed to help you to plan, prepare, and market your business for sale. Before going to market, guidance and tools are provided to value your business and prepare it for sale, including the identification of practical short-term changes. Here's how does it work.
Not in the traditional sense of the term. ExitAdviser runs a "virtual brokerage" platform that enables you to orchestrate the business sale process yourself in a well-structured and efficient way.

ExitAdviser is not commission-based like traditional business brokerages are. The one-time service fee includes full access to all resources and services provided. We encourage small business owners to pick ExitAdviser's FSBO (For Sale by Owner) route for an efficient, commission-free business sale.

For Brokers..
We provide all-inclusive FSBO solution for sole owners.
ExitAdviser provides you with an end-to-end set of tools and resources you will need throughout the whole business-selling process. It is not just setting up a sales listing. It is taking care of every step of the process.

Addressing buyers directly.
We use the Google Ads platform to place our customers' offers directly in front of motivated buyers (i.e., when they seek businesses for sale with Google Search). This is a highly efficient way to address prospective buyers because Google is the place buyers tend to go first - as we all do ;).

The Sales Memorandum Tool helps you identify the key value proposition sought by buyers. The tool then automatically populates the fields in your landing page on ExitAdviser, which is then promoted through a targeted Google Ads campaign.

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ExitAdviser is aimed specifically at small business owners who wish to prepare and execute their business sale process themselves (FSBO) along with the guidance and online tools available on ExitAdviser. View reviews...

Business brokers, advisors, and realtors are served with the BrokerBoard™ service to create, upload, and manage their sales listings.


Joseph Blygges, a former business owner explains how he sold his business with ExitAdviser.

A key objective when selling your business is to strike the best possible deal. This is made more likely by following the 4 stages we have set up as part of the ExitAdviser strategy in order to prepare your business for sale and fast-track the deal-making process.
The one-off fee includes access to all ExitAdviser's premium online resources. This includes online tools, your featured business-for-sale listing on the Marketplace, a prepared advertising campaign on Google Search (mobile and desktop), document templates and legal forms, access to nearby advisors, how-to guides, email support by your Account Manager at ExitAdviser, and more (we will keep adding more service items). Check out the pricing page for the full list of features.
In general, no. The services are rendered for a one-time charge that is a fraction of the rates (commissions and fees) typically asked by business brokers. However, we do offer a free 30-day limited trial so you can check out the platform's functionality, and even prepare your sale listing to hit the market. You can sign up for a free trial here.
First: your offer is listed on ExitAdviser's Marketplace, whitch is visited by hundreds of business opportunity seekers each day. Plus, as part of our complementary services, you can quickly start your own search-based advertising campaign on Google. ExitAdviser triggers your Google Ads campaign based on the business category and location you select. All it takes is just a few clicks and your own digital marketing campaign is up and running.
A custom advert on a Google search page
Secondly (and optionally): with the Pitch-to-Brokers tool, your offer will be confidentially mailed to a number of potential intermediaries nearby.

And, complementarily, your offer is posted to ExitAdviser's prominent showrooms at Google My Business, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
Of course. With ExitAdviser's Pitch-to-Brokers tool, you will be quietly addressing nearby intermediaries like business brokers and advisors by sending them a hardcopy, confidential letter, that is near-impossible to ignore. In the offer letter (composed and mailed automatically), you'll summarize what your business does, and how much you're willing to pay for a successful sale. If they're interested, an intermediary will contact you over the phone, or via email, to discuss the details.
Business brokers provide a valuable service for owners/sellers; however, there is a charge, which is often up to 10% of the selling price. A smart broker will evaluate whether it's worth their while to spend time on a business of relatively low value, say with an asking price of less than $500,000. In this situation, ExitAdviser offers you an alternative, DIY approach.

Discovering ExitAdviser may give you the confidence to go forward with the project yourself, irrespective of the asking price. Should you still decide to use a business broker, you'll be much better prepared and able to understand their language.
For Sale by Owner (FSBO) is a method of selling a business without the use of a business broker. Small business owners may employ online listing/advertising services to market their own business but do not pay a commission and represent themselves without the help of a business broker throughout the sale. It is more of a DIY type of sell where the owner has the control over where listings go, what offers they accept, and how much they ultimately ask for and receive for the sale.
Confidentiality is of the utmost importance to us. ExitAdviser promises that we will not reveal your personal or commercial information to third parties, nor will we sell any information you provide to us to any third party entity.
It’s your own freedom (and responsibility) to decide what to communicate to the market and to potential buyers. Typically, you will not share your business name, e-mail address, telephone number, your name, or other such details on your landing page that may reveal your identity (also known as "blind" listings).

ExitAdviser uses secure Microsoft Azure Cloud services. For more details on the strict security, confidentiality, and data protection provisions in the system, refer to ExitAdviser's Terms and Conditions.
ExitAdviser provides all members with a comprehensive set of tools and resources to help with the listing and sale of their business. There is no mandatory sequence of getting things done. However, a suggested approach may be the following:

1. Navigate to the Go-to-Market tool (Ad Editor) and update the contents of your landing page. Your landing page is what will be publicly visible to potential buyers so you will want to make sure it looks good and has all the information you need to include about your business.

2. After setting up your landing page, you may want to start your advertising campaign. While staying with the Go-to-Market tool, click on the "Google Ads" tab, then click the blue START button. Your landing page will be advertised on Google when people search for businesses (for sale) relevant to your category and location.

Optional steps:

3. You may want to re-check your asking price.
We provide an online business valuation tool to calculate your asking price.

4. You may want to create a Sales Memorandum.
The Sales Memorandum is a document used by sellers to communicate key information about the business to prospective buyers. Make use of the Sales Memorandum Tool to ensure this important document is all in order.
When you meet serious buyers, they will ask for more information about your company. Therefore, it is important have your Sales Memorandum well prepared.
In order to activate your business-for-sale listing, you'll need to upgrade to a paid service. Click the "upgrade" link on the top-right menu. After upgrading, navigate to the Go-to-Market tool and activate your listing (click "Activate Your Listing").
After you're activated your sale listing, our back-office systems will be automatically submitting your listing's public URL to Google and other search engines for indexing. Also, we will post an update to our front-ends on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Google My Business.
Just give it some time to gather momentum; meeting a serious buyer doesn’t happen overnight.
As a next step, you may want to initiate your campaign via Google Ads (pay attention to the "Google Ads" tab at the Go-to-Market tool).
Complementarily, the Pitch-to-Brokers tool, our newest add-on to the selling platform, makes it possible to address potential intermediaries like business brokers and lenders nearby.
The currency format is related to your computer browser country/language setting.
For example, if you set your Chrome browser to French (France), it will show currencies in euros.
No. However, presenting some unique photos will make your ad far more attractive and appealing to prospective buyers.
You can upload up to three photos with the Go-to-Market tool.
If you do not want to present photos that are taken directly in-door or out-door of your business, then, alternatively, just upload images about your field of activity, or category of your products/services.

Note: Make sure you have copyrights to publish the photos.

Also, be aware that in case you haven't uploaded any photos, a randomly picked "business-like" image may be placed with your listing.
The business-for-sale listings in our marketplace are listed in descending order by the date when a listing was inserted or updated. The newest ads are placed on top; also when a business owner updates their ad, the listing will be moved to the top.
ExitAdviser works in conjunction with the Google Ads platform by providing so-called PPC (Pay Per Click) ads. A paid "click" is counted when a visitor clicks on the ad and gets redirected to visit your public landing Page at ExitAdviser.
You can provide your Sales Memorandum in two ways.

1. With the Sales Memorandum Tool
There is a file-export feature to save your Sales Memorandum document in your computer (MS Word or PDF). Then, when a buyer contacts you, you may want to attach the file to your response email.

2. With the Go-to-Market tool – Ad Editor
Alternatively, you can enable your Sales Memorandum to be available for download on your public landing Page. To enable it, scroll down on the page to find the "Settings" section. Check the feature named "Allow the Sales Memorandum file to be downloaded...".
When a visitor clicks on the download link on your landing page, the latest PDF-version of your Sales Memorandum will be provided.
It's a one-off application fee for the services rendered. For a one-time payment, you will get the services rendered for 12 months (with the STANDARD plan). There are no monthly charges, and no auto-renewals. When your initial service period expires, you may renew it for another term.
Yes. ExitAdviser's Money-Back Guarantee is valid for 30 days from the purchase date. Should you not be satisfied with the service, you may ask for a full refund. Please note that the refund does not apply if you've already started your Google Ads advertising campaign using the Go-to-Market tool; nor does it apply if you used a free trial before upgrading to a paid plan. This guarantee also does not apply to the BrokerBoard subscriptions (a set of special service packages for brokers and realtors). View Plans and Pricing
Yes. We provide support via email to our customers. We do our best to respond to every email within one–two working days.
Absolutely, we go to great lengths to ensure that all information on our platform is secure. We use top-rated payment processors such as Stripe and Braintree (a PayPal company), and we never store credit card information in our database.
No, you do not need to disclose your business name. Instead, you can use a project name of your choosing so that we have a reference point for your account and data in the system. ExitAdviser needs a label to set up your business account and identify your data. A project name of your choosing will suffice for this unique system reference.
Yes, the files you upload with the Go-to-Market tool can be downloaded by anyone visiting your landing page. If that's not your intention, then do not upload any files. The landing page we create is made to be a platform for you to share information about your business in order to entice buyers. Everything on the page is fully accessible to those who visit your page. Alternatively, only upload files that add value to your offer, but do not contain confidential information.
In the course of your Google Ads campaign with ExitAdviser, you may need to buy further ad click packages to refill your marketing budget.

There are also situations where additional outside steps may need to be taken or you may have small convenience expenses that are totally optional but that can further enhance your experience and improve your chances of selling your business. All additional fees and services are option and you will not be forced or coerced into paying anything more than the one time set up fee unless you wish to do so.

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Ryan Crow - Your Account Manager
I'm Ryan, your account manager